01.09.06

(Kwame – verbally abused by the Greatest Player of All-Time and now, the Most Decorated Coach Other Than Red)

There was always an element of low comedy to the whole idea of Phil Jackson as Zen Master. Perhaps the nickname stuck because it’s catchier than Advertisement-Against-A-Generation, but it also played into an idea that always has more currency than it should — the idea of the coach as enlightened leader of men. Beat writers never questioned the utility of Jackson slipping Samaki Walker a copy of Siddartha and a knowing wink — and, since Deadspin and its ad hominem homeboys didn’t exist in 2001 when he ditched his wife of 25 years and kids to spend more time with his career/Jeannie Buss, no one has made that big a deal about his being a vain and personally unpleasant guy. But perhaps his Holy Man image will change now that he’s on record calling one of his players a pussy. Well, more bragging about the coaching genius of calling him a pussy. And then explaining that it’s cool because Brian Shaw also does it.

3 Responses to “Zen Master, Locker Room Bully”

Hey, is this the first “non-GC” posting in the history of CSTB? If so, congrats, David Roth. I wish I cared as much about the NBA as other topics: Buildings Shaped Like Cocks, Baseball, Total Fucking Terror, Will Leitch Sucks, the Blue Turf of Boise State, Sad Toilets, etc., as to more fully appreciate the content of this, but I am thrilled by this history in the making!

Oh, well thank you very much. I’m still working on my first buildings shaped like cocks post. Kind of depends on what happens with the Freedom Tower. In keeping with my usual posting schedule of one every 12-16 weeks, I’d encourage you not to wait up for it.